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Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Archer told a federal jury in opening statements that Bonnie Margaret Schreiber, 56, of
Checkerboard, received about $68,000 in tax-free workers' compensation benefits from February 2006 until February 2008.
Schreiber pleaded not guilty in March to a four-count indictment, including two counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and
theft of federal government money. The indictment alleges Schreiber regularly filed false claims related to Workers'
Compensation payments with the U.S. Department of Labor and lied to her doctors and the Postal Service about her
condition.
Schreiber began work with the Postal Service in 1972 and became a part-time regular letter carrier in Roundup in 1974.
She filed her first Workers' Compensation claim in 1977 for injuries to her right leg and back, the prosecutor said. She
underwent two back surgeries and returned to full-time work in 1981 as a mail processing clerk. She moved from Shepherd
to Checkerboard, a rural community near Martinsdale, in 2004.
In the 1980s, Schreiber filed her second and third claims alleging carpal tunnel syndrome and a back disorder and stress.
She stopped working for the Postal Service in 1986 and was placed on long-term rolls for benefits in 1987. She continued
to receive benefits until her indictment. Schreiber was required to visit doctors and verify on annual claim forms that
there was no change in her condition.
In 2000, the Postal Service offered her a two-hour a day position answering the telephone with a headset, a job in which
she would have received pay equal to eight hours of work, but her treating doctor did not approve the job, Archer said.
Ultimately, the Postal Service began an undercover investigation into Schreiber's activities in 2004. Agents sent her a
survey titled "D.S. Promotions," which asked about her activities. Schreiber responded that she worked full-time and
hunted, camped and fished, Ryan said.
Then, posing as photographers and journalists, investigators rented the house across the street from Schreiber's and
videotaped Schreiber doing various outdoor activities from Oct. 24, 2006 until Nov. 16, 2006. The video shows Schreiber
using a chain saw, unloading 10-foot logs from her pickup, cutting and stacking wood and clearing fence, the prosecutor
said.
Schreiber disclosed she hunted, fished and loaded wood but portrayed those activities as more limited, he said. The
prosecution plans to show the jury video evidence and call as witnesses neighbors who saw Schreiber engaging in physical
activities.
When confronted by agents after the investigation was completed, Schreiber responded, "The sons of bitches, the sons of
bitches are postal inspectors," Ryan said.
Defense attorney Jack Sands countered that Schreiber was disabled and could not return to work. Panels of doctors
selected by the government all concluded that Schreiber was disabled, he said. The Postal Service used all its mechanisms
to evaluate Schreiber and the result was that she was disabled, he added.
He cautioned the jury that the government will try to use video snippets to show a level of activity. "It is not
representative," he said.
Schreiber told government officials she lived in a rural community and was active hunting and fishing and used firewood.
"You'll see she didn't lie to the government," Sands said. "She didn't report her condition had changed because it hadn't."
If convicted, Schreiber faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the fraud counts. The case continues
Tuesday with Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull presiding.
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A former Postal Service employee lied about her ability to work to continue receiving workers' compensation benefits
even though undercover surveillance video will show that the worker lived an active, outdoors lifestyle, a federal
prosecutor said Monday.